German software company Celonis has raised $290 million in a Series C funding round that values it at $2.5 billion, more than doubling its perceived market value in just over a year. (In true German manner, the “process mining” specialist is already profitable, unlike the majority of high-profile Silicon Valley-backed, high-valuation tech startups).
Celonis last raised $50 million in Series B funding from existing investors Accel and 83North in June 2018, which valued the company at $1 billion; it says it has been profitable for every year since its inception, cash flow positive every year since 2011 and is growing at a triple-digit pace.
The company names Airbus, L’Oréal, Lufthansa, Siemens, and Uber among high-profile customers that use its services to “improve the efficiency of their finance, supply chain, IT, sales, and customer service functions.”
The Munich and New York-based firm specialises in AI-enhanced process mining; defined by co-founder and CEO Alexander Rinke as a way of performing an “X-ray on every operational process, allowing companies to discover inefficiencies and clearly identify recommended actions to streamline processes, save money and improve customer experience.”
Arena Holdings led the round alongside Ryan Smith, co-founder and CEO of Qualtrics, as well as Tooey Courtemanche, founder and CEO of Procore. Smith will serve as a special advisor to the company and work closely with Celonis board member and Hybris founder, Carsten Thoma.
“Celonis is the clear market leader in a category with open-ended potential. It has demonstrated an enviable record of growth and value creation for its customers and partners,” said Feroz Dewan, CEO of Arena Holdings. “Celonis helps companies capitalise on two inexorable trends that cut across geography and industry: the use of data to enable faster, better decision-making and the desire for all businesses to operate at their full potential.”
The firm is one of a growing number of firms that use AI, APIs and other tools to plug into ERP systems and analyse spending in a bid to drive supply chain efficiency: Computer Business Review recently spoke with the CFO of Coupa, which among other services lets customers compare KPIs against peers using anonymised and aggregated data from other participating customers.
Read this: Five Questions with… Coupa CFO, Todd Ford
